Amazon Continues To Flake On Promised Returns For Taxpayer Money
Image: Rendering of Amazon Fulfillment Center Image Credit: Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Two Amazon fulfillment centers in Tennessee remain unopened, despite taking taxpayer funded money from the state and promising jobs.
Both of these Amazon warehouses sit in East Tennessee, only about fifteen minutes from each other. The locations in Alcoa and North Knoxville were announced in early 2021 and were intended to bring a number of jobs to those areas, starting at $15 per hour.
Construction on the facility in Alcoa continues with a focus on the infrastructure around the building. A spokesperson from the Blount County Mayor’s Office says the fulfillment center is still on track to open.
“The Amazon Fulfillment Center is progressing on target to begin hiring the first quarter of 2023 and begin operations in the summer,” said the mayor’s spokesperson. “They are in the process of moving equipment into the facility now.”
At the old East Towne Mall location in North Knoxville, what appears to be another completed warehouse sits empty. There does not appear to be any additional construction taking place.
According to Council Member Lauren Ryder, who represents the area where the fulfillment center is located, the project was initially delayed nearly a year because of supply chain issues. However, Ryder said the building would still be opened.
When questioned, Amazon officials told WVLT News that they still have plans to utilize the facilities.
“While we don’t have a specific launch date to share right now, once we have a better sense of timing, we’ll work with the local community and employment organizations in the area to hire hundreds of employees at each site,” Amazon said.
People are losing faith in the company as they continue to fail to uphold their end of business deals across the state. The delay in opening these warehouses comes just shortly after Amazon announced that they would be putting a freeze on hiring new employees and would no longer be opening some new warehouses in other cities.
Amazon was also given $1 million in FastTrack grant money to open a facility in Clarksville. They announced in August that the plant’s opening would be delayed for up to 10 months, stalling on the creation of nearly 500 promised jobs in the area.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
Any contracts the State makes on behalf of the people should have a failure clause that would return the funding if certain milestones are not met. Who are writing these funding grants without protection for the taxpayers? They should be fired or removed from office.